Cultural dialogue between Russia and China is actively developing: center of the remote access to the resources of the Presidential Library opened its doors in Shenzhen

Official opening of the remote center of access to the resources of the Presidential Library took place today, September 11, 2017, in Shenzhen (the People's Republic of China). It was created on the basis of the Russian-Chinese University, established jointly by the Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Beijing Polytechnic Institute (University) and the Municipal People's Government of Shenzhen. Now students and faculty of the university are offered a unique chance to actively use a massive array of the Presidential Library stock in their research work and educational projects.

The center’s opening is the result of the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Presidential Library and Moscow State University — MGU. The document is indorsed by the signatures of the General Director of the Presidential Library Alexander Pavlovich Vershinin and the rector of the Russian-Chinese University Zhao Ping.

The active cooperation of the Presidential Library and the People's Republic of China has been developing since September 2010. It was then that center of access to information resources of the Russian electronic book depository opened in the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing, becoming the first one in the history of the spreading out the remote network of the Presidential Library abroad.

Close and friendly relations between the Presidential Library and China promote the development of a dialogue between two cultures and the improvement of sympathetic understanding between the Russian and Chinese peoples. For example, information and library cooperation, participation of representatives of states in various cultural, scientific, educational and awareness raising events are actively expanding. One of the most striking examples is sending in January 2014 by the Presidential Library to the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing of digitized paintings from the middle of the XIX — the beginning of the XX century with traditional eastern images and wishes well. And in April 2016, experts from the Chongqing City Culture Committee and specialists from the Chongqing Library took part in the “Law and Information: Questions on Theory and Practice” VI International Scientific and Practical Conference held at the Presidential Library. In addition, in October 2016 in Chongqing was opened a joint exhibition of the Chongqing and the Presidential libraries “Shared Memory. Photo Exhibition of Chinese and Soviet Photographs of the Second World War.” The exposition was created on the basis of photographic documents selected by Chinese specialists and photographic materials provided by the Presidential Library.

At the end of August 2017, the Presidential Library was visited by the delegation of the Chongqing Committee for Culture and the Chongqing Library, within the framework of the visit the Chinese side handed over some materials on the Soviet-Chinese relationship in 1937—1945 for its subsequent use in the libraries and museums in Chongqing region, an agreement was reached to create an adapted version of the electronic exhibition of the Presidential Library about the 1917 Revolution in Chinese and releasing a movie about the activities of the Presidential and Chongqing libraries.

The Presidential Library stock numbers over 550,000 digital copies of books and periodicals, archival documents, photographs, audio and video materials, author’s abstracts and other materials reflecting the centuries-old history of Russian statehood, theory and practice of law, as well as the Russian language as the state language of the Russian Federation. In addition, the electronic thematic selections about Russia's cooperation with foreign countries are available on the Presidential Library website. One of these collections is dedicated to the development of relations with the most important partner in the Far East — China. The selection includes the digital copies of documents of various types (book editions, archival, illustrative, cartographic materials). The collected documents allow looking at the relations of the two countries through the prism of diplomatic contacts, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation for several centuries.

Rare books are also featured in the cillection. Among them: A selection of cases on diplomatic affairs between the Russian and Chinese states from 1619 to 1792 year… by N. N. Bantysh-Kamensky, the archival materials in Russian from the former Peking Imperial Palace Letters received from Russia during the reign of Kang-Xi and Qianlong and others.

It should be specially emphasized that on September 13, 2017, the official presentation of a remote center of access to the resources of the Presidential Library in Shenzhen will take place with participation of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets and Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Liu Yandong. This event is planned within the framework of the XVIII meeting of the Russian-Chinese Commission for Humanitarian Cooperation.